The present invention is directed to latches used for sliding panels and pocket doors, especially those found on boats, recreational vehicles (RVs) and travel trailers and the like. Generally, such latches are required to have a low profile, fit flush with the respective inside and outside surfaces of the sliding door or panel and operate easily with a twist or a sliding operator motion to open and close the latch.
Usually, the external dimensions of the door guide frame define the thickness of the door to be mounted therein. The thickness of the door, in turn, defines the size of the recess in the door to which to mount a lock or latch. This profile must leave room for the protrusion of a key lock on the outside and a privacy switch or knob on the inside.
In most instances the thickness of a latch or lock was defined by the thickness of a door panel. One lock would fit a door of only a specific thickness. In the past this limited the applications of a particular lock or latch.
Locks/latches were made adaptable to a wider variety of door thicknesses by utilizing shim plates or spacer structures. Generally, a shim plate would be placed between the outside face of the latch case and the inside wall of the cavity cut into the door. This produced a rather unfinished installation which would then require a cover plate with a filler wall that would extend into the cavity or cutout cut in the door. When the cutout in the door was uniformly sized the shim plate would build out the outside face of the casing and would require special mounting cover plates that engage the case and shim plate.
Spacers have been used to space apart the respective inside and outside faces of a latch case in order to make the case thicker to fit a thicker door. This requires not only a variety of case screws, but also a design of the internal operating components which operate equally as well without the internal case spacer/expander, and with expenders of different sizes.
Generally these latches have been mounted into a cavity or cutout in a door panel with mounting screws. Even where a mounting bracket has been engaged, that mounting bracket has been used with mounting screws.
None of the prior art latches and locks have been made water proof or weather resistant which is a particularly advantages feature on boats and with RVs and travel trailers where little over hangs or weather slashing is encountered.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a latch for a sliding panel or pocket door that is quickly and easily installed with a snap in installation.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide this latch with the ability to be easily adjusted to differing door thicknesses without exchanging or adding parts or changing the operation of the latch.
It is further an objective of the present invention to provide weather proofing or water sealing to this latch.
It is even further an objective of the present invention to provide all of these features in a low profile flush mounted latch.